Throughout the research process, the biggest thing that I have taken away thus far, is that I now look at Tupac through a new lens. Sure, I still look at him as an artist/rapper, but I also look at him as an advocate, a son, and an African American struggling to make a name for himself in a time and place where racial tensions still ran rampant (Los Angeles in the 1990's). Through my analysis, I'm hoping to use Tupac (2Pac) and his lyrics to not only present his perspective on a vast range of issues, from crack addiction, to systematic oppression, to gang violence, but to also represent Tupac as a human being, using his poetry and music as an outlet to help him both understand and overcome the challenges he's faced with in life. With my synthesis, I'm hoping to express the relevance of Tupac's work still holding up today in 2017, through the continuation of some of the issues that Pac rapped about 20+ years ago.
Researching Tupac has raised so many questions for me. It has made me want to see more into the person he was around loved ones, Tupac stripped of his "Gangsta" Makaveli persona. I want to see into the mind of the Tupac who decided to use rap as a tool in advocating both the truth and the struggle of his life as a lower class African American. I want to see the real him. One of the most interesting aspects to my topic, to me at least, is Tupac's use of contradiction to raise a message. For example, Tupac would intentionally release songs Like Keep Ya Head Up that promoted black love, and more importantly the love of black women in a community that typically undermined them, around the same time as a song like Temptations that features verses that represent women strictly as sex objects to create controversy in order to garner recognition for the songs and create dialogue. I hope readers can look at my paper and see the gift that Tupac had, by recognizing both the truth and relevance within his lyrics. I hope they can understand that through his rap, we have a doorway into a set of perspectives we would otherwise never get to experience. I hope they can see how prolific he truly is.
It is really cool to heat how your research has given you a perspective you hadn't had before. I think that we as "normal humans" forget that celebrities are just humans too when we get caught up in how talented and successful they are. I love that you are using this opportunity to learn more about who Tupac REALLY was as a person, when he wasn't putting up a front for the public or for his rivals. It is important that we recognize the real life of the celebrities we idolize if we're really interested in them as a whole. You did an excellent job looking at your topic from many perspectives and taking new information away from the sources you used.
ReplyDeleteI really really love your topic and the way you're approaching it. I think it's so interesting that you narrowed your research down to one person, and I think that it is SO important that you're really centering your work around showing Tupac as a human. In a time in our culture where we are constantly dehumanizing impoverished black men, I think that the work you're doing here is very important. I also love that you aren't trying to apply his struggles to the greater human existence; while some of them are things that many people struggle with, I think it's also really important that you aren't letting these issues be claimed by groups that have historically taken ownership of a lot of black culture and struggle. How does Tupac compare and relate to other artists in his genre? I am so excited to read your final work, and I love the way that you're approaching this topic.
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